Knockdown shipping container



April 17, 1951 T, MUNRQE 2,549,509

KNOCKDOWN SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed June 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 17, 19511 T. MUNROEl KNocKDowN SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8, 1945 Patented` Apr. 17V, 1951 KNOCKDOWN SHIPPING .CONTAINER Thomas Munroe, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Moraine Box Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Michigan Application June s, 1945, serial No. 598,371

This invention relates to a box or shipping container, and more particularly to one of the socalled knock down type in which the ends, sides and tcp and bottom may be prefabricated, readily set up or assembled, readily fastened together in strong assembled shipping relation, and may be readily disassembled for reshipment or for reuse.

There have been some boxes or shipping containers or crates, in which .the pieces of wood, and the reenforcing members to which they are nailed or otherwise attached are all interconnected, as in an automatic box machine', by wires or interlocking hinge members or the like so that they may be folded so that the parts will lie generally parallel to each other for shipment or storage before use. These may be pulled into proper relative position for use, an example being the` well known orange crate. In general for boxes or shipping cartons of considerable size and to handle considerable weight in shipment, it has been the practice to nail the Various parts of the box together in the well known manner.

While efforts have been made toward securing satisfactory knock down boxes or shipping containers of the size hereof and as a substitute for the well known built up boxes or containers, so far as I am aware no one has provided such a knock down box or shipping container nor one having the advantageous features and simplicity in manufacture and simplicity in use and reuse of the present invention.

rEhe principal object of the present invention is to provide such a knock down box or shipping container having ends, sides and top and bottom each of which is a unitary piece or panel and which have provisions whereby the several partsl may be readily assembled into shipping relation, and'strongly held in such shipping relation, without the necessity of using nails, screws or the like to permanently ax the several constituent pan- Y els to each other.

4 Claims. (Cl. 217-12) Another object is to provide such a box in which the constituent parts have cooperating means permitting readilyassembling of the panels and holding of them in position so that material to be shipped may be placed within a box and the nal cl-osure panel then put in proper place after which straps or wires bound tightly about the assembled parts'will give requisite shipping strength and strong protection to the contents under rigorous conditions of actual use in shipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide fabricated panel members, for such boxes or containers, each having means for cooperating with another panel member, so that such panels may be readily assembled in desired relationship, and when tightly bound in such relationship the cooperating means will provide strong reenforcement against both external and internal bursting or disruptive forces.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a box, and the constituent parts therefor, in which the parts of the box may be readily Adisassembled after shipment to facilitate removal of the contents by cutting or removing-the straps or tying wires, and which permits of putting the panels and associated bracing and reenforcing parts in a compact, flat, packet for reshipment for reuse.

Another object of the invention is to provide comparatively light weight fabricated panels for assembly into a knock down box orfshipping container, especially adapted for shipping comparatively large and bulky objects such as gasoline tanks for airplanes, which have cooperating means so that the box may be readily assembled about the object with the cooperating panels supporting each other in position and greatly strengthening the assembled box, with means for holding the parts in assembled relation, and which may be readily dismantled after use without damage to its component parts and returned for further service in a knock down condition which requires little shipping space.

Another object of the invention is to make a knock down box having prefabricated panels or walls free from projecting cleats or other devices when assembled which would decrease the usable inside size or space for contents of the box a substantial or objectionable amount or' substantially increase the outside measurementor cubical shipping volume thereof; and also to provide such panels or wall members and cooperating strengthening members therefor which are efn 'fective forv interconnection of such panels.

It isv still another object of the invention to provide prefabricated parts for use as elements of and in the assembly of such a box, which parts are comparatively inexpensive of manufacture, which give great shipping strength when assembled and bound together for shipment,v which may be readily disassembled for use, and which forma compact knock down package for reshipment for use.'

Still another object of the invention is to provide a corner connection for the panels or wall members which is of particularly advantageous design and is formed from sheet metal by cutting and bending operations, and which assists in n assembling the panels and also in strengthening the corner of the box When assembled in position. Another object is to provide aligning and strengthening lugs effective between panels for bracing the panels or wall members to give Y greatly increased strength to the box and which have means for permanent connection with one panel member and bracing connection with a receiving portion of a cooperating panel or side wall member.

In order to protect its contents during shipment a box or container, such as a shipping crate, must not yield at the joints or corner edges, and the sides must be strongly held. against bursting or disruptive forces from within and from without. In the ordinary shipping case or crate this has heretofore been usually accomplished by nailing the boards, constituting the side and end and top members, together in more or less permanentrelationship, and sometimes supplementing the strength of thenailedtogether crate with metal tie bands or fires'wh'ich are crimped or otherwise lockedl while bound tightly about the nailed crate to give additional strength, Although the desirability of a box having freely removable wall members has long been recognized, the requirements of strength, simplicity and low costof manufacturel and labor of assembly have been generally prohibitive, in commercial operations. In the present invention, however, a comparatively cheap prefabricated box, of unitary members readily assembled arid disassembled for return and reuse is p-rovided'which also has adeouate strength, even when built in sizes ranging up to a number of feet in each dimension.

In the drawing, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention -is illustrated, and in which like numerals designate like parts in the several views,

Fig. l is an isometric view of a box or shipping containermade upY of 'constitutent parts, in conformity withA the preferredembodiment of this invention Fig. 2 is an exploded'view through a corner, and part'of two cooperatingside and end panels, for such a box;

Fig. 3 is an inverted fragmentary view along the edgel of a box panel showing the relative location of a lug and cooperating'slot, the form of lug being that shown in Figs. 4, and 6;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view showing a preferred form of'lug;

Fig, 5 is an inverted plan View of the lug of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the face of a cleat and plywood sheet of a panel of the boxand'the arrangement of the lug receiving groove therein; and

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the metal blank from which the corner bracket shown in Fig. 2 is made, fold lines being shown dotted.

In the drawings, as an illustrative embodiment of the invention, there is shown in general a box of the type used for the protection of heavy or bulky objects such as gasoline tanks when they are shipped. The vbox-is rectangular and is made up ofpanels which are readily assembled or detached for reuse andy for knock down shipment but which when assembled and bound together form a constructionof great strength for shipping.

The numeral Il] indicates generally the bottom ofthe box, the numeral 2B indicates generally the visible side wall of the" box, the numeral 30 indicates generally thevisibleendwallof the box i and the numeral 40 indicates generally the top of the box.

The description of the construction of a side wall or panel of the box will be given rst because that description will be generally applicable to the other side, end, top and bottom walls. This side wall has a reinforcing frame composed preferably of longitudinal upper and lower wooden members or cleats 2-22 and vertical wooden bracing members 23, 23, 25 and 2B attached or fastened toa sheet of plywood or other suitable material 2 shown as S-ply plywood by means of nails, staples, screws, glue, or the like to form a rectangular frame or panel. The cleats, brac ing members and panel may be made of strength adequate for the size and intended use of the container. Such a prefabricated panel is of great strength and will withstand rigorous use.

Cut into the side of the panel member are a series of rabbets or grooves- 28 which are suitably spaced from one another and from the corner of the panel to give adequate reinforcement and ease of assembly, a spacing of about two feet being satisfactory for articles such as the airplane fuel tanks'referred to; but they may be spaced at such distances as to give'the desired strength and resistance to internal and external disruptive forces when the box is in assembled relation and bound for shipment. In the plywood and cleat panel construction shown the rabbets or grooves are formed at one side of the cleat and the plywood forms one side of each such groove, as shown in Figs. Zandi 6( These grooves are of size, shape and location to receive the tongues or lugs of bracing members i5, in Figs. 1 and 2, formed of 'metal and of shape as shown in Fig. 2; or of shape as shown in Figs. 4,5 and 6. These lugs are formed from plates and when struck up as shown at it and Slifthe flat'or ange parts l5 and 98 are attachable to the face of the panel in locations corresponding to the grooves in the edges of the cooperating panels. Asimilar groove construction 28`is formed in the upper longitudinal member or cleat 2|Y and similarly in each of the other panels. two opposite cleats of the end members 30, e. g., being .designated 3l, 32 and all the panels also having similar cleats andbracing members.

Each of the other side and end walls of the box is constructed in a manner similar to that of wall 28, so that when the box is assembled the lugs andcooperating grooves on the meeting.

edges ofthe walls or panels form a series of tongues and grooves whose spacingI and relation is such that the parts willY stay assembled for packing and when properly bound are adequately held against internal and external disruptive forces. As shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the ends of the rabbets or grooves are preferably curved as at 28', these curves being so calculated with respect to the size of the tongue that they serve as directing faces to facilitate aligningof the parts in assembling the panels and as limits which prevent longitudinal displacement when assembled.

The bottom and top panels i and e0 also have longitudinal frame members or cleatsl ll and transverse cleat members i2 similar to those described above whichvare likewiseY afxed to the inner plywood sheet i3 upon which the edges of the four side panels'of the box rest when it is assembled; and as shown the lugs are attached thereto and to the cleats as by means of nails i4, which nails pass through the lugs to fasten the lugs inposition. The projecting portions IG areshaped aridso formed as to have such emplaced, there is preferably a snug t between the lug i6 and the groove 28.` This same relationship exists with respect to the form of'lug members 90--94 and the grooves into which they For greater ease in assembling and'packing the corners of the box are held in xed relation to each other by angle brackets which are indicated generally by the numeral 50. These brackets may be conveniently made from a metal plate l (Fig. 7) the shape of which, before forming into the angle brackets, can best -be comprehended by an inspection ofthat ligure. The outlines of that iigure are indicated by the numerals 52 to 6| the lines 5l' and 58 being shown at an angle of approximately 90 to each other and at an angle of 45 to the line 52. In forming the angle bracket from this plate the plate is cut on the lines a and b, and may be readily folded into the interrelationship of the parts by foldingup at right angles on the dotted lines e and i to form flanges 68 and 69. Dotted lines are used in Fig. 7 to indicate fold lines. The section bounded by the lines 59 and 66 is now folded down at right angles on the line c, and the section having the outline 6l is folded upward at right angles' about line d.

The section having the outlines 56 and 55 is then folded upward at right angles on the line g and the section having the outline 52 is folded up at right angles about the line f. The foregoing folds havingI been completed, a lllnal right angle fold is made on the line y', which brings the partl having the outlines 59, 66 in overlapping relation to the part having the outlines 55, 56, the overlapped parts of which are welded or otherwise rmly attached to each other, producing the bracket shown in Fig. 2. The edges 55 and 6l may be overturned slightly if desired to form cam faces to assist in entering and seating the panels in the angle channels thus produced.

The bracket as thus made and as Vshown in Fig. 2 has a base 62, 63 which is angle shaped and forms the lbottom of a right angle channel each of which brackets receives the corner of two adjacent assembled panels of the box. This channel has inner right angle walls or flanges 64, 65 and outer right angle Walls or flanges 66, 61. On the outer wall of the channel 66, 67, at the ends thereof are the inturned flanges 68, 69 which are equidistant fromfthe external corner of the angle tting and so as to t in slots 1|), 1| which are cut in the sides of the box panels at equal distances from the corner of the box. By this arrangement the angle brackets are interchangeable with any panel having the dimensions and the proper location of slots l0, 1|. Likewise the lugs are interchangeable and therefore they may be made in quantity production and used with any prefabricated panels having grooves of dimensions and spacing to match them.

With the walls of the box made with properly located spacing and bracing elements I5 and with grooves correspondingly located in the edges of abutting Wall or panel sections the fitting of the grooves over the lugs of the bracing plates will locate the parts in proper relation. In assembling the box the side Wall panels are brought together as shown in the upper portion of Fig. 2 and the corner brackets, having been made from the blanks in the manner described, are slid over the corners of adjacent walls (Fig, 2) so that the tangular Wall Whose sides cannot be displaced Without removing the brackets, and with the side and end Wall panels also positioned with the lugs on the bottom l0 located in the grooves in the cooperating edges of the side and end panels, andk the adjacent vertical edges of the side and end panels likewise so positioned the box will stay assembled and'may be readily packed. When so assembled and packed the top can then be emplaced and the Walls of the crate and top will thus be held in xed relation by the angle members 50 and by the lugs and grooves, and thus constitutes a construction so assembled capable of resisting considerable external as well as internal pressures. tents, is noW bound by metal or other straps 8D which hold the parts in assembled relationship. By making these straps suitably strong to hold the panels in assembled,'packed, relation a strong, light,` prefabricated box is formed which has great resistance to internal and external disruptive forces and which has been found quite satisfactory in use. Furthermore when the box has served its purpose and is to be unloaded the straps 89 are removed and the box readily dismantled. And the panels may be readily dismantled Without injury to them, the six panels readily separating when the corner angles are removed and the disassembling readily accomplished in reverse order to the assembling. They can then'be-tied together in a at group, and returned for further and similar use, requiring little shipping space for lthis purpose, the angles being placed in a bag or otherwise attached to the return package.

lAn exceptionally ecient and strong form of spacing and bracing lug is shown in Figs. 3, fl, '5; having a metal plate 99 having nail holes 9l through which nails 92 may be used to attach it to a boxfwall, the overturned ends of the nails beingshown in Fig. 3 at 92, and a curved projec tion 94 satisfactorily formed by stamping to proper shapel and size, as shown. This form of the device is believed generally preferabl to the form l 5 which is shown in Fig. 2. It has no sharp edges on the projecting lug part 912- which might out thev hands of workmen or the surfaces of the cooperating grooves. The curved ends of the lug serve as directing surfaces to seat panels having grooves with straight ends as well as those having cammed ends. x

Among the advantages of the' invention are these, that a knock down box is made which has suflcient strength for ordinary rough usage in shipment without permanent fastenings such as nails driven through abutting lfaces of different wall members, as has heretofore been the usual practice. Without such nails Athe box forms a strong shipping construction which is also capable of easy dismantling and repeated use. Another particular advantage of the invention is that in dismantling the box it is not necessary to use tools on the box itself but only to remove binding strips and Ait is thus not necessary to tear the box apart, in Whole or invpart, before unloading, with resulting destruction of or damage to the box after a single use. This box overcomes such difficulty and makes it practicable to reuse boxes for a number of shipments, and even when a panel member of the box is damaged or destroyed, it is not necessary to replace the whole box but merely to substitute a new member Which is The entire box, with its coneach formed by a` single panel, metal plates 151 mounted on certain of said Wall panels and having` lugs projecting at right angles therefrom along a substantial longitudinal extent'thereof', grooves formed in the edges of cooperatingy panels. to* receive said projectinglugs, corner 20s;

brackets having angularly arrangedchannels-A to lreceive adjacent wall panels of the box by; relative: movement substantially; parallel 'to the abuttingk edge of said wail panels, slots in said Wall panels adjacent the corner and cooperats ing With angeson the Acorner brackets to :prevent disengagement of said panels by relative movementY at anV angle to said abuttingpanel edges, and means to hold the box parts in assembled relation for shipment. 39.-.

2. In a knock down box ofthe character described comprising Walls each formed by a single panel,spaced metal plates on certain of said panels having lugs projecting at right ang-les thereto and along a substantial longitudinal ex- 35v` tent thereof, the edgesof other panels having correspondingly spaced grooves therein-to receive said lugs to give aligning and bracing connection between cooperating panels, cam surfaces to aid in aligning said grooves and lugs. .m-

and causing them to intert to give proper rel-1 ative location of cooperating panels and to strengthen the box" against disruptive internal. and external forces, corner brackets having .an-- gularly arranged channels -to receiveV adjacent panels-of the lbox upon relative movement substantially parallel to the abutting edgesof said adjacent panels, slots in the panels, anges on the corner brackets cooperating with said slots to prevent disengagement ofA said panels byv rel- 5 ative movement at an angleY to the abutting edges thereof, and means to holdthe box panels inassernbledrelation, said cooperating lugs andv grooves and said corner brackets being constructed for detachably holding thek panels rmly together` without decreasingthe effective packing space inside the boxor increasing the external dimensions of the box.

3.. In a knock` down box of the character described having Walls each formed by a panel my adapted to bey detachably assembled to form the box.the.combination of a lug member compris ing anattaching plate lhaving a lug struck up,

therefrom along a 1 Substantial longitudinal extentthereof materially in excess of the thickness. of` saidy panel, means lfor attaching said lugmember against the face of onepf said panels.; With'I said lug extending substantially perpendicularly to said face, another` of said panels haing a longitudinally extending groove in an'edge thereof proportioned to receive said lug` therein, cooperating cam surfaces at the ends: ofsaidi lugv andA groove: respectively for aligning said lug and groove in interfitting relation .upon .assembly of said panels, and means fordetachably retaining said panels in assembledA relation with saidA lug intertting with said groove.

4. In a knockdown box ofthe character `describedhavingwalls each formedby a panel adapted to be detachably assembled to form the box.the combinationof spaced metal plates on the faces of certain of said panels having lugs projecting; at right anglestherefrom along a` substantial longitudinal extent thereof, the

:edges of others of Said panels having correspondingly spaced grooves therein for receiving said lugs to form a braced connection between said panels; said lugs and saidgrooves being.

complementarily curved substantially about a. radius,- arranged transversely of the length thereof adjacent their respective ends toprovide"cooperating cam surfaces at the ends of said lugs andV grooves for aligning said lugs and groovesVv in intertting. relation upon assembly ofisaid panelsaand removable means `for holdingxsaid panels in said assembled relation providing for ready disassembly thereof.

THOMAS ,MUNROE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nic o1' this patent:

UNITED, STATES PATENTS NumberV Name Date 1,184,505l Baconl May- 23, 1916. 1,215,839 Nero: Feb. 13, 1917 1,476,654 Peter Dec. 4, 1923l 1,885,748 Maurer, Jr. Nov. l, 1932, 1,924,7091 Coulbeaux Aug. 29, 1933 1,942,976' Miller Jan. 9, 1934 2,017,161 Pennock Oct. 15, 1935 2,167,329 Byers July25, 1939v FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,744- Great-Britain- Nov'. 13, 1886; 17,391 Great'Britain Sept. 15, 1893' 82,227 Switzerland Oct. 29,- 1918 402,162 Great Britain Nov'. 30, 1933 

